Ever Upward, Always Forward
by elvy14embee
Summary: In a school for promising heroes, one of the biggest concerns for a group of students is learning to connect with the people they want to love and care for. A feel-good romp through the series, with a bit of story divergence. [OC Inserts][The Power of Friendship][Teenagers being meme loving idiots]
1. Chapter 1: Daffodil

**Author's Note:**  
HOOOO BOY  
I'm back at it again with some self-indulgent fanfiction! Anyways thanks for stopping by and giving me your time.

**Disclaimer: **  
I do not own the My Hero Academia IP.

* * *

Ever Upward, Always Forward

[A My Hero Academia Fanfiction]

Chapter 1

Daffodil

* * *

_Today's the day._

Pearlescent locks danced and fluttered in the air as the head swayed back and forth as steady footsteps brought them to a pristine doorway. Glass filtered sunlight reflected from bright hair, causing the figure to stand out.

Not that it mattered at the slightest.

Standing there was a young man, donned in heavy gold earrings and hands encrusted with the same material. There he shone like a trophy. However, he cared not for the curious stares and gawking from passing students as he was headed to his destination.

He was here and it was through his own merit.

Breathing in an air of confidence, he slapped both his cheeks in reassurance. This is the first day on his journey, his first step to being who he wants to be; a Hero. As he took another breath whilst reaching for the door handle, the young man's ears detected a pair of footfalls coming his way. It seemed that this person was in a rush and coming closer at a quick pace. Turning towards the sound he was greeted with a panting student holding a big yellow backpack. The class hasn't started, but it seemed like 'yellow bag' was frazzled to no end.

"A-Ah! This door's humongous!" Yellow bag exclaimed off-handedly, "O-Oh!? You must be in class 1-A too?"

The flashy young man nodded.

"W-well… we should head in…" Yellow bag cautiously and shyly opened the door revealing a loud and lively classroom. He visibly stiffened at the scene, he seemed to be in shock of the commotion that was right in front of him. Another pair of boys were arguing over the basis on proper sitting postures. It all seemed to go in on the flashy boy's ear and out the other he wasn't paying attention. Besides, it wasn't a conversation he wished to participate in. Yellow bag seemed to shrink away behind his flashy companion, only to be spotted by one of the boys — a bespectacled fellow who seemed to be well put together.

"Hello, I'm Iida Tenya from Soumei-" The glasses boy started only to be cut off by Yellow bag.

"Oh yeah, haha… I kinda overheard you mentioning that earlier... Nice to meet you, Iida, I'm Midoriya!" Yellow bag — who's name is now Midoriya awkwardly replied.

"Midoriya… I must hand it to you. You figured out the actual nature of the practical skill exam didn't you?" Iida started, piquing the interest of Midoriya's companion. "I was blind to it! And I completely misread you! I hate to admit it, but you were the better man!"

"Wait, what did he do?" The still-unnamed boy spoke. He wasn't exactly listening in as much as one should, but at the mention of the school's practical exam intrigued him. Before either Iida and Midoriya could reply to another new voice cut through the conversation.

"Ah! It's you, Curly Hair! I'm glad I found you!" A bubbly girl made her way through the doorway. "You made it! Just like Present Mic said! Yay! Go You! That punch was out of this world!" Now the flashy boy was curious, he assumed that these three must have met in the same testing arena.

The girl went on for a bit as Midoriya muttered dismissing statements countering her compliments. All the while the flashy boy watched in interest at their interactions, how easy they just spoke to each other, not exactly friends yet — but he can tell these three would be there in no time. He internally mused as this new chapter of his life opened, it was refreshing. It was a new start in a way. Better put his best foot forward as well.

"Oh! I'm Uraraka Ochaco!" The bubbly girl spoke to the three boys.

"I'm Midoriya Izuku."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all, my name is Iida Tenya."

As the flashy boy listened, his mind must have wandered off to possible situations of how his day might go, not realising that the other three were waiting for his response. His eyebrows plucked up in at their expectant stares.

"Oh, my name's Kaneshiro Tatsuya."

"W-wait… You mean—" An impressed gasp pulled his attention to his left.

"If you're gonna be making friends, do that somewhere else." A stern but tired voice interrupted Midoriya's reply. The group flinched and slowly turned to the source, "This is the Hero Department, not a get-together."

Four pairs of eyes — all varying in degrees of shock — watched the man stand up and shrug off the sleeping bag, like a weird greasy black butterfly coming out of its cocoon. Corners of Tatsuya's mouth twitched as he stared at this homeless-looking fellow continue on his lecture.

"Hmm… It took you about 8 seconds to quiet down… Time is precious and rational students know not to waste it... I'm gonna be your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Pleasure meeting you." Now fully out of his cocoon of a sleeping bag, he spoke — never moving from a monotone drawl. It was slightly daunting to Tatsuya, who was never used to a teacher this… dishevelled.

"Right, let's get things going." The boy smiled politely as everyone watched the older man's actions. Reaching in his sleeping bag, he fished out the school's gym uniform."Put these on — they should be under your desks. Then head over to the P.E. grounds, immediately."

For a moment Aizawa stood impassively, staring them down, before Iida and the rest of the group shuffled to their seats with urgency. Tatsuya made his way to a seat right next to a peculiar looking girl. Her eyes were glassy and her tongue was poking out cutely. _She looks like a frog._ Giving to her in a polite nod as a greeting, he grabbed the uniform ready to seek out the bathroom to change.

"Being late on the first day of school doesn't say anything good about you..." Tatsuya overheard, looking up only to see another student at the doorway. She was panting like a mad dog, her hair — white similar like his — was in a horrible state probably from running to class. Cheeks flushed, probably from embarrassment and the failed attempt to catch the first bell. "Get ready and follow the others. I'd expect you to be early next time."

And with that, Aizawa saw himself out. Leaving a rather flustered girl to scamper to the only available seat; which was sandwiched between the flashy boy and Midoriya. She was wearing a childish pout as she hung her bag on her seat and gathered the uniform.

Tatsuya studied her for a fleeting moment. She was small, even smaller than the frog looking girl that was next to him, who was now out of the room to change. Her hands patted down in an attempt to tame white locks, her skin was dark akin to varnished teak wood complimented her hair well. Her eyes... were looking right at him.

_Oh, I've been caught._

"A-ah… sorry about staring." He raised a hand apologetically, "I'm Kaneshiro Tatsuya. It seems like we're going to be seatmates."

"Oh! I'm Sumitomo Tsubaki!" The girl beamed. It seems as though it might be hard to dampen her spirits. "I'll be in your care."

Shooting her hand towards him, her big bright eyes sparkled. Tatsuya smiled as she shook her hand, a firm and confident handshake. That he liked to see.

"Well… Seatmate Sumitomo, we better get going. Everyone else got a head start."

The P.E. grounds weren't much of a distance from the classroom. Tatsuya made quick work changing and walking to the designated area. It looked like a normal sports field, though it was significantly larger than most middle school or regular high school. One can make the argument that it might be just as big as those in universities. Yuuei with its prestige must have the budget to splurge on their many facilities.

The grounds were a testament to that notion.

"Ne~ Kaneshiro-san." A voice piped up from his right, turning to see a familiar face of Sumitomo looking up to him. It seems that she managed to get changed and scamper her way to the grounds earlier than some of the students. The class was finally gathering, though some weren't all that enthusiastic about missing the opening ceremony guessing from their gaits. "Man… I always wondered how it's like to sit in Yuuei's opening ceremonies. I wish we could attend." She quietly whined, knowing to refrain from gaining the attention of their teacher.

"I doubt we're missing anything worthwhile…" Tatsuya looked around. The class is finally here it seems. "It's always the same in every school."

"Maybe… But it's still Yuuei…" She spoke in a dream-like tone, excited and giddy that she's attending this school. "Anyways! What do you think Sensei has in store for us?"

"Well, that's good that someone finally asked," Aizawa interjected, his gaze on Tsubaki. "You all will be doing a Quirk Apprehension Test."

A chorus of voices echoed the last few words that came from Aizawa in disbelief. Probably caught unawares at the sudden test on the first day of school, on their first year of enrollment, nonetheless. Faces all varied in expressions, from outright shock to disinterest. This is an interesting class.

_I stand corrected. Yuuei isn't like every other school._

Tatsuya scratched the back of his ear, not exactly worried about the test. He passed the entrance exams close to the top, and that wasn't even much of a problem. Why should the others be worried unless they can't back up their spot in the school? The young man was looked unaffected and was bored, itching for something to happen.

"B-but what about the ceremony?" Uraraka asked. Another person is so concerned about it. "And the guidance counsellor meeting?"

"If you want to be heroes, we don't have time for frilly niceties." Aizawa started, tapping his tablet to life. Monotone as sin, he glanced towards the class as a whole. "You all understand the school's reputation for freedom on campus. Well, that 'freedom' goes for us teachers too."

No one dared to reply.

"Physical tests you know from middle school naturally banned the use of your quirks. The country still hasn't gotten around standardising those sorts of records or keeping track of 'average' performance levels." He continued, "Bakugo, how far could you throw a softball in middle school.?"

"67 meters." A rough-looking blonde answered without hesitation.

"Try using your using your quirk this time round." The teacher tossed a ball at the boy — who easily caught it with one hand. "As long as you don't step out of the circle, anything goes. Don't hold back."

"You got it." A wicked grin spread across the boy's face, as he stretched his throwing arm in preparation. Without even a pause for breath, the boy lurched forward his arm being dragged along akin to a catapult. Even if quirks weren't allowed in this test; based on Bakugo's form it might snag a respectable distance.

"DIE!" A huge explosion propelled the poor ball skyward, just like a cannon. Tatsuya watched with furrowed brows as he took in the raw power displayed. It was indeed a stellar performance and honestly intimidating to anyone else watching, but one thing was bugging him.

_Why the hell did he say "die" for?_

"Before anything else," Aizawa's voice demanded the attention of Tatsuya's wandering mind, "one must know what they're capable of. This is a rational metric that will be the basis of your Hero Foundation."

21 pairs of eyes landed on the tablet now turned towards the class; 705.2 meters. It was miles above the first record Bakugo put forth. It was insane. The class erupted in impressed chatter, all of them now fired up and ready to showcase their "awesome" quirks.

"This looks fun!" Some voice exclaimed in the crowd. A mistake was made.

"This looks fun…you say?" His monotone voice echoed, however, the students felt a slight danger to his tone. "So you were planning to spend your three years here having a good ol' time? What happened to becoming heroes?"

Tatsuya felt someone inch closer to his side — it was his seatmate; now wearing a fearful face. His looked back at his teacher, not wanting to waiver under his presence. He was taught to be better than that.

"All right then." The teacher's voice held a sense of finality and left no room for arguing. "In that case, new rule: the student who ranks last in total points will be judged as 'hopeless' and be instantly expelled. We don't need to waste time on those who won't prove they can't make the cut. The teacher's "freedom" means we can dismiss students as we see fit."

Everyone steeled themselves as the stakes just became higher. They were also cursing the person who managed to let that statement out. They might have avoided this if they kept their mouth shut.

"Welcome, to the Hero Department."

—

The 50-meter dash.

An easy one really. It tests a person's sprinting speed, how fast they could accelerate for a short distance. Easily one of the tried and true fitness tests for any old school, but not Yuuei.

Yuuei's different.

"3.04 seconds!" A robotic voice resounded from a marker bot, as a blur of blue whizzed past it. Iida stood unfazed by the explosive performance from the dashed line. Hands readjusted his glasses as he looked back to his competitor; the frog girl coming in 5.58 seconds. Impressive time for someone who was just hopping. The bubbly girl, Uraraka, managed to come in at a seemingly mild 7.15 seconds.

Tatsuya and Tsubaki watched the class go through an aspect of the apprehension test. The boy watching in curiosity as he took little notes about the quirks of his classmates. It was a habit of his — watching people. He calculated how fast he might be in comparison to his previous time of 7.08 seconds.

"They've pretty cool huh?" The girl initiated her gaze towards Bakugo and Midoriya at the starting line.

"Oh yeah definitely…" Tatsuya watched as Bakugo use his explosions as a form of thrust; 4.13 seconds. He faces melted from a passive gaze, slightly frowning at Midoriya's normal sprint coming in at a 7.02 seconds.

"It's really nice to see our classmates' quirks. I never got in through the exam…" That caused him to look to her, still watching the second pair ready themselves. It was a boy sporting hair with a vertical split between white and red and a girl who looked like a traditional Japanese beauty, sharp eyes and jet black hair tied in a neat and graceful manner.

They looked like the epitome of sophistication. He wondered how that was possible for a bunch of first years, but here it was proving him wrong. Tatsuya's eyes widened as he saw the girl pull out an electric skateboard from her body.

"You're one of the few recommendation students huh?" He replied, now watching the pair take their marks.

At the beep, the electric skateboard whirled to life, its threaded wheels grabbing the ground for added traction for quick acceleration. It was impressive, but her partner somehow stole her limelight. Glistening ice instantly covered the ground on his lane. Two-tone was basically speed skating rather than sprinting, it was graceful as it was swift. The boy claimed the timing of 3.36 seconds — only about half a second behind Iida, while the girl skidded to a stop with 4.45 seconds.

"Whoa… that was pretty…" Tsubaki spoke before snapping back to her conversation with him, "Yeah… I think they're recommendation kids too. It figures. With how easy they just made it look."

"Yeah… You said it." Crossing his arms Tatsuya left out an impressed huff as he watched Two-tone thaw his ice sheet, leaving the track to where he started with.

"Oh… Kaneshiro-kun looks like we're next." Tsubaki skipped to the starting line, still bouncing between her two feet. Her hair now in a puffy ponytail bobbed from her fidgeting.

A thought crossed his mind as they made their way to the markers. Tatsuya wasn't all that miffed at the prospect of racing against a recommendation student, he knew he could hold his own. However, looking at her one might not expect much in the way of raw power nor ability. She just looked like a pretty young girl with a bouncy personality — not that was a bad thing. Giving her a smile, he assumed starting position as she did the same.

Competitor or not, both were equally curious about how what the other has in store. Tatsuya never did see any of his classmates in his exam area. Or maybe the invisible girl was with him, but given her quirk, he must've not noticed just like anyone else.

**Ready.**

**Set.**

Tatsuya's eyes flashed to life with a magenta glow as he focused on the ground on his feet.

_Now!_

**BEEP.**

He felt the ground push violently against his feet for a moment, before his body was catapulted through the air easily clearing a few meters in a single bound. It left, unnatural prongs of the earth exactly where his feet were. Preparing for another, the flashy boy's ear picked up a soft landing right next to him.

Eyes snapped to the other lane.

There she was — a step or two ahead — in the middle of a step. Looking as though everything was in slow motion, Tsubaki's foot slammed on the ground. As contact was made and her weight shifted on to that limb, the air snapped as if someone cracked a whip. With that, she propelled herself on another impressive bound.

Tatsuya was not far behind. Repeating his first move, he moved forward. The ground pushing up against his feet, like a springboard. However, the girl was far ahead. She looked like she was… flying.

_Amazing…_

3.16 seconds!

Small feet landed past the finish line with a gentle tap. Tsubaki's hair fluttered down as she let out a few relaxing breaths. It looked as if she's done this a million times — which was probably the case. Not far behind her came Tatsuya, barreling towards the finish line. More emphasis on power rather than looking cute.

They were polar opposites.

5.72 seconds!

Just like the pair before them, these two made it look effortless. As expected of recommendation students, though Tatsuya wasn't actually one of them. He could easily count as one given his performance stacked against the other three.

"Whoa! Kaneshiro! That was so cool! You too girly!" Uraraka complimented the pair as they melded back into the crowd. The boy gave her a polite smile whilst scratching the back of his neck. He didn't really felt like he deserved such praise for a small demonstration.

"Yeah! Kaneshiro-kun you were so cool looking the way the ground just went POW!" The white-haired girl backed her up.

"Not only that. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I overheard that you came into Yuuei through recommendations, right?" Uraraka placed a quizzical finger on her chin.

"O-oh! Yeah. I'm one of them, I heard it's an even split between the two classes." Tsubaki answered, "I believe it's three each, which means that there are six of us recommendation students."

Uraraka made a hum of understanding as she processed the information. Feeling like he was going between a budding bond between two girls, Tatsuya opted to stand next to the boy he first met. As he stood next to Midoriya, he couldn't help but feel an air of panic around him.

Looking to his left he picked up on how shoulders hunched inward as if to make him look smaller. How his hands fidget, probably restless. The clearest tell was his expression; a look of fear laced with determination bleed through every pore of his. There were probably hundreds of thoughts racing in that boy's head on how he can get a leg up on this situation.

_Surely he doesn't think the expulsion was real, right?_

—

Toe touch, side steps, long jumps, and the grip strength tests flew by without a hitch. However as the class moved from one to another, Tatsuya couldn't help but notice Midoriya wasn't exactly using his quirk at all. Holding back is one thing, but outright refusing to use a quirk for a test that was meant to assess it is something worse. Eyebrows furrowed as the flashy boy watch Midoriya still looking lost in thought. It didn't really affect him at the slightest, but the boy wouldn't want him to neglect the importance of self-analysis. However, the expression didn't show hints of that; it showed something else. Fear was there, but there was an inkling that this broccoli haired boy was trying his damnedest to keep afloat.

Tatsuya sighed, his eyes closing in slight annoyance over why he'd given this so much thought. It was unlike him — at least the person who was him 3 years ago. Was he becoming a nosy person? Keeping down a shudder from that concept, he tapped Midoriya's shoulder to get his attention causing the stressed boy to flinch.

"Hey, you good?" A weak start but he can work with that. "You sure you've been using your quirk, Midoriya? You're not doing too well—"

Another chorus of amazed noises erupted from the class. Both boys looked up to see Aizawa hold up an infinity symbol, bright on the screen. That insane score belonged Uraraka. It easily dethroned Bakugo's softball throw — or any other attempt to break it.

"Kaneshiro! You're up next." Their teacher chucked the ball at the taller boy, who caught it with both his hands.

On the moment the ball made contact with his bare hands he could feel the coolness of the metal sensors that wrapped around it. Though it may be an ordinary softball, the sensors added a significant amount of additional weight. Not like that mattered when quirks were in play. A small smile graced Tatsuya walked up to the circle, he nonchalantly tossed the ball up and down familiarising himself to its weight.

_It had to have metal._

Rearing back his left arm, hand gripping the ball tightly, he let out a steady breath. Maybe he shouldn't hold back. Maybe unlike the other tests, he should show the others what it means to actually be somewhat serious. Maybe, it was to bolster some kind of encouragement for a certain boy he's been observing. But those don't need to be answered with his words alone, Tatsuya just has to show them how it's done.

He lurched his body forward, just like Bakugo from before. The same magenta glow emitted from his eyes, however, it seemed to be much brighter than before. They looked like it was illuminating his face. Tatsuya felt the ball more specifically; the metal. Each and every molecule of it and how it exists in space. It was second nature to him at this point, now he just has to move it as much as possible.

Letting go of the ball he could still feel the metal. Could still push it further. It was still within his range, he can add speed or even change its direction. He can pump in as much power as he wanted. As much power to make an impression. That he did.

Using some invisible force — his quirk. He boosted the ball's velocity as soon as it left his physical hands. He can still feel the solid molecules clearly just then, but as the ball moved further and further from him his mental hold and control of those molecules felt weaker. However, even if it escaped his area of control, Tatsuya was confident the ball will soar far and high and fast for long enough.

1204.3 meters.

Uraraka was a tough act to follow but it looked like he stacked up well to her record. Not as explosive as Bakugo, but he did manage to break the sound barrier with relative ease, just like the explosive boy. A smile found its way on his face as he glanced to Aizawa's tablet.

_I should've let on a bit more effort._

Tatsuya let out a breath as his face melted back to a neutral disinterest. His eyes landed on a frightful Midoriya. It seems that his display didn't do much in encouragement. A mistake on his part for showing off too much. Forcing a wave of shame down he placed a hand on a shaky shoulder.

"Just do your best okay?" His voice and tone soft and guiding — but he couldn't help but feel like he wasn't practising what he preached. It was low enough to not be heard by unwanted ears. Midoriya seemed to snap out of this nervous trance and looked towards his companion. A gentle smile graced his lips as he looked down to the shorter boy. Showing a soft reassurance, though Tatsuya wasn't all too invested into this test he could feel his acquaintance's drive seeping out of every pore. He just couldn't help but feel for him.

"Y-yeah…" The shorter replied as he walked up to the circle. His turn was next. The tone was different from before, a hint of determination and confidence showed through. Maybe the flashy boy did something after all. The unnatural mixture of magenta and electric blue watched the boys form imitate every starter pose that has graced this circle. As if powering up his arm he lurched forward — just like Bakugo and Tatsuya — and let the ball fly.

"46 Meters" a robotic voice announced. Must be reserved for those who threw it under 50 which never happened in the duration of the test. Not only that but, this was painfully anticlimactic. With that windup, it was sure to be somewhat stellar, or at least something above 50 meters. Midoriya looked equally shocked as his face blanched at the abysmal throw. Small sounds of muttering spewed from his mouth trying to grasp the situation at hand.

"I erased your quirk." The class snapped to the teacher, black locks now standing on end. The scarf around him unravelled and it looked like it swayed in the nonexistent wind. In that mess of fabric, a pair of yellow goggles peaked out. The only sign of a support item, so it seems as though this plain black tracksuit was Aizawa's hero costume. "The judges in the entrance exams must be foolish to think you have the right to get into this academy."

Murmurs erupted from the class as they placed two and two together. Aizawa Shouta; Pro Hero: Eraserhead, was their homeroom teacher. Not many knew much about him, due to his distaste of media attention. 'It interferes with work' so he told the public.

"From what I see, you don't have any control over your quirk's full power or even use it without hurting yourself. Did you actually believe someone will save you every single time you cripple yourself? Pathetic." Reprimanding words came out from the teacher as he used the scarf dragging the poor boy to him. "Nobody is in the position of coming to your aid, especially if you're the hero that's there to help. There's a certain insufferable idiot that made his name on saving thousands of lives all by himself. I get that you might have brute strength as he did, but you running around like that… How can you save others when you're the one who's in need of saving the moment you use your quirk. Face it, your power will not help you become a hero like this."

The teacher's hair fluttered down as he let go of the boy. Aizawa sighed as he took out a small bottle of eyedrops, "I gave you back your quirk. You still have two chances. Let's get this over and done with."

Worried eyes watch the exchange though not able to pick up on the conversation from that distance. He could hear Iida giving out his insight on what has happened. Though Tatsuya would have to disagree, their body language didn't seem to say that it was mere coaching — especially how Midoriya was holding up. Frowning the observer couldn't help but feel a pang of concern for the boy. He blamed it on how that boy held himself in such a passive manner, it borderline to self-deprecating if you thought negatively about it.

_So that's what you did in the entrance exam._

Tatsuya watch as Midoriya stood for a moment, most likely thinking about Aizawa's words and muttering to himself. Seconds passed as he expectantly waited for movement. It was slow as if time itself crawled at a snail's pace. Every movement that Midoriya made was amplified and was held for longer than normal — or so it seemed. He can tell this was it. That this run was going to be serious. A smile graced his lips as he watched the ball fly.

And fly it did.

His smile widened as he felt the powerful shockwave pass by them and the ball went hurtling to the sky. The flashy boy didn't remember the last time he felt this amazed but there he stood eyes wide and in awe. Eyes snapped from the sky to Midoriya.

"Sensei" The boy turned to Aizawa, his voice reaching the class. "I can still move!"

Midoriya, 705.3 meters.

"Yay! Way to go Midoriya!" Uraraka cheered next to Tsubaki, who was clapping her hands in amazement. "A record fit for a hero!"

"Your finger…" Iida pointed out, Tatsuya gave him a curious look. "It's swollen like the entrance exam.."

Hearing that, the white-haired boy couldn't help but raise a well-groomed brow. That is a peculiar quirk. Or at least a repercussion of one. Bones and muscles grow back stronger and over time they perform better than when one first started. However, what Midoriya showcased was strange indeed. It seemed like his power output was far too much for his body at this stage as if he can't contain it. Tatsuya hummed in thought. This was his first time seeing a quirk do that, but he was thankful that he seemed alright in the end. That's what matters. Right?

As he mused, a sudden blast of air whipped his hair to the side causing the boy to flinch. His multicoloured eyes spotted a blonde — Bakugo speeding towards the test taker.

"What the hell is that! Deku!" He spat, as he still barreled towards the poor green-haired boy Tatsuya watched in abjected horror as he witnessed this happen in front of him. "Fucking Deku! Explain what the hell you just did! You fu—" Bakugo's voice was suddenly cut off as his body was jerked back.

"W-what the hell, I can't tear through this…" The boy was bound with similar bands of fabric, trying his damnedest to break free. It looked like a feral dog clawing his way out from a snag.

"Don't bother trying. It's made out of special carbon fibre and steel alloy fabric. People stronger than you couldn't even tear through it, you'll just be wasting your time." Aizawa's voice sounded annoyed, though it still seemed tired as it has always been. "Why do you people force me to use my quirk. I have dry-eye dammit."

There was a pause, as the class watched their teacher reprimand the blonde. Sighing he loosen the grip around Bakugo and deactivating his quirk nullification over him. "We're wasting time. You lot prepare for the next trial."

—

So Tatsuya was right on the fact that there would be a huge gap in skills within the class. However, he wasn't exactly accurate on how big the gap was, nor the distribution of students and who they were. Looking at the class ranking he glanced to the others, intently looking for their name before he looked for his own name.

_Ah… There it is._

Spotting his name at the top percentile, he hummed in satisfaction. It wasn't really something he was too worried about. He did the job and he wasn't exactly going 'Plus Ultra' on these tests. His mixed eyes glanced over a trio — the same people he just met earlier in the classroom — a pang of shame manifested as he saw their faces. They put their heart into this and maybe he shouldn't have taken this thing too lightly, especially when there were people who put in all their effort into this.

"Nene~ Kaneshiro-kun!" A soft but excited whisper brought his attention to another person he just met today, "You placed 4th! That's great!"

"You placed 7th, that's pretty good too." He looked away from her, "Plus you have a cool quirk, I'm guessing it has to do with movement?"

"Ah! That's a close guess! I can collect and store kinetic energy." Sumitomo whispered back. Her tone held a bit of sadness as she seemed to be hung up on the results. "It's not as flashy as that Bakugo, Mr 3rd rank. Man… It's kinda embarrassing since I'm a recommendation student, and to place below top five is pretty bad..."

"It's only the first day of school, you can claw your way up in no time," Tatsuya spoke, nonchalant and not really caring for class rankings. He just doesn't understand why do they need to bend over backwards to prove something this early. "It's good not to show all your cards too early."

Looking back to rankings he spotted a familiar name; Midoriya Izuku.

"Oh by the way… I lied about the expulsion threat." Aizawa's voice cut through, "It was just something to motivate you to put in effort in this test."

Just like that a chorus of dumbfounded noises and the word "What!" Tatsuya didn't react as much as the others, he scanned the class and spotted a few who were equally unfazed as he was. However, the trio looked like they were the most affected about this. And the thought hit him. These people actually fell for that blatant lie.

"Anyways… We're done here. Your syllabus sheets are back in class, head back and read through them by tomorrow. The real work starts then. Oh, Midoriya." He continued while fishing out a permission slip. "Take this to Recovery Girl, get yourself patched up. You'll need that for the next day."

"Wait…" Tatsuya walked up to them, along with a relieved Tsubaki — probably believe the teacher's lie as well. "You guys actually fell for it?"

"You didn't!?" The four of them replied in exasperation, making Tatsuya flinch back.

"A-ah… Sorry I didn't tell you guys…" The boy replied awkwardly, trying to shy away from four glares.

—

A mixture of blue and magenta spotted two familiar figures amongst a crowd of students. Following the test, the day went on swimmingly. Teachers introduced them to the class and set expectations and explained their respective syllabus. It felt just like a normal school, aside from that scare in the homeroom period. The flashy boy adjusted his bag's shoulder strap.

"Hey! You two!" Tatsuya called out to the two boys. Seeing them turn he waved and jogged to catch up. "You don't mind me walking with you guys—"

"Boys! Wait up!"

"Yeah! You guys hold up!"

The familiar voices of Uraraka and Tsubaki grabbed their attention.

"You guys are going to the station right?" The short white-haired girl asked, "Oh! My name's Sumitomo Tsubaki, by the way."

Corners of the flashy boy curled. He looked towards the small group forming, a feeling of warmth started building within him. This felt foreign to him. It wasn't the luxury he had in spades; the start of a friend group. But that isn't his concern right now. There's no shame in enjoying the moment as it is, right?

Lagging behind the shorter ones, Iida caught a longing smile plastered on Tatsuya's face.

_Put your best foot forward, you bet your ass I'm doing that._

—

* * *

Daffodil:

One of the earliest flowers to bloom in Spring and often found in yellow, this particular flower is often associated with the meaning of rebirth and new beginnings. That is why it is often a popular pick for gifts around New Years.

The Daffodil also represents joy, happiness, and friendship.

* * *

**Author's Note:**  
Thank you once again for stopping by!  
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please feel free to drop a review if you want!


	2. Chapter 2: Heather

**Author's Note: **So… I'm still alive. Hi hello. Sorry for the long-ass wait ahahaha…. Sorry ;;;

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the My Hero Academia IP, just the OCs introduced here.

* * *

Ever Upward, Always Forward

[A My Hero Academia Fanfiction]

Chapter 2

Heather

* * *

"_Why can't you just go with me!"_

"_Not now, I'm busy."_

"_Why! Coz you just want to bury your miserable self in work!? We're all hurting, it's not just you! Why are you so selfish!"_

"_I'm working for YOU Tatsuya! When you're older you'll understand my sacrifices— Wait where are you going. I'm not done with you."_

"_You said you wanted to be alone right? Then rot here. I'll never be in your hair ever again."_

"_Tatsuya! I'm not done with you! Tatsuya! Kaneshiro Tatsu—"_

"—tsuya!" The boy in question flinched awake as he looked up as he saw the familiar face of his seatmate; Sumitomo Tsubaki. Her white eyebrows were furrowed as she looked at him in worry. "Did you actually doze off during class? It's just the second day!"

"What!?" It looked like Iida overheard her as he was getting ready to leave for lunch. "How irresponsible! Kaneshiro how can you do such a thing! To sleep in lessons in such a prestigious academy! Shame on you!"

A feeling of embarrassment came as he was berated by both Iida and Tsubaki for a moment before he decided to put in his defence. Which probably didn't help argue his little snooze during math class.

"Look, guys… I just couldn't sleep last night." He sheepishly grinned, "I'm sure it won't happen … too often…"

Another flurry of reprimanding jabs came from both Sumitomo and Iida threw at him.

"Look we should head to lunch…" Tatsuya laughed as he dragged both of them, an awkwardly smiling Midoriya, and an amused Uraraka. This motley band of students soon moved on to the more casual conversation, more specifically it was related to food and what they plan to eat.

"Ne~ Uraraka-chan, whatchu gonna get for lunch?" The white-haired linked her arms to the person in question. It wasn't long till her rather touchy nature showed through with the people she deemed as her friends. While the brunette easily welcomed it, the boys were something else. Though Tatsuya did let her link arms though not as close as the girl did, however, the other two boys looked like they were going to overheat whenever she did that.

"Uhhhh maybe some grilled mackerel with rice… It depends really I wonder what today's menu would be." The brunette mused for a bit before she turned to Tsubaki. "How about you Sumitomo-chan?"

"Easy." She raised a finger as a matter of factly, eyes closed selling her expression further. "Anything with tofu."

Tatsuya could practically feel the sparkles coming from the shortest person in the group. He watched the conversation brought in the two other boys. The boy listened, content to act as the observer since it was already being a crowded conversation.

The group as a whole found their way to the dining hall, where a huge procession that basically consists of the whole student body. It still impressed them on the sheer scale of the campus, and how easily it just housed this many students. That being said, though the entire student body was present there were still ample seats for those still filtering in the hall. Tatsuya wasn't all that adverse from crowds but the sheer amount of people did make him a tad bit more wary of his surroundings.

Magenta and electric blue scanned the massive menu board, or screen to be more specific. It boasted a wide array of gourmet level dishes and other international foods for those with a more adventurous palate. However, just as expected, it has a huge Japanese food selection, having different regional versions of many beloved dishes. His eyes widened at the immaculate selection of different ramen.

It looked like heaven.

So many variations of his favourite dish, from different regions, traditional flavours, and more experimental broth types — one of which is Thai Chilli. Tatsuya's eyes looked entranced as he looked on reading his many choices of ramen. All of them looked mouth-watering and with the number of choices, he could easily eat a different type of ramen every day for at least 3 months before he has to cycle through them once more. This was such a blessing.

"See anything you like Kaneshiro-san?" The voice of Iida brought him back to his senses.

"There's just so many different types of ramen…" He mused, still deciding on which of the many flavours he'd pick. "I didn't manage to get a look at the selection yesterday since I brought my own lunch."

"As expected of Yuuei! Their standards are high even down to the food choices—"

"Kaneshiro? Tatsuya? Hey, Tatsuya! It's you!" A new voice interrupted poor Iida's praises of the school. The group turned to a tall boy walking up to them. Sporting a handsome and bright smile and a stylish side parting on his dark pink hair, which had a curious white streak on the start of the parting. This boy seemed to be pleasantly surprised to see Tatsuya in the campus grounds. "You didn't tell me you're going to Yuuei!?"

"O-oh…" The white-haired boy looked shocked and was speechless for a moment before he regained his relaxed posture. "Tsu!? You're here too? What happened to Osaka?"

"I had a change of heart, plus… I want to keep an eye on you-know-who..." The Tsu boy replied in familiarity still smiling like an idiot towards the white-haired male. His red eyes seemed to shine as he spoke, before realising that Tatsuya was with a group. "Ah! Sorry about that. The name's Sakurai Tsuruo, it's nice to meet you! I hope Tatsuya isn't too much troub—"

Sakurai was cut off with a jab to the ribs. The group watched as Tatsuya and the pink-haired boy acted like long-standing friends who would tease each other. Sumitomo and Iida were smiling weakly, while Uraraka and Midoriya looked as if they were poor deer caught in the headlights.

"S-sakurai-san… You don't mean… The Sakurai Tsuruo, son of the Pro Hero Bunraku! Omigosh it really is you! Your family is so famous! Not to mention your mother being the start of the renaissance of Japanese-styled heroes, ever since her debut, a movement of kimono styled costumes was started because of her Geisha style…" Midoriya droned in fanboy. Sakurai smiled as he didn't mind the green head going off in such a manner. Though this was a pretty good way of filling into the others about the weight of his surname. In fact, he looked pretty used to this type of attention.

"A-ah… Sakurai-san…" The voice of Uraraka stammered as she suddenly has her phone out, she wore a similar face like Midoriya whilst she spoke. "Is it okay if I get a picture with you? I'm such a fan of your work!"

This garnered a curious glance from Tatsuya as this pink-haired boy went through the motions of taking a selfie with Uraraka. Not only him but the group as well. He did have the face for a celebrity, but it was doubtful that he was a mainstream one. Seeing this transpire was rather amusing to him, it was unlike how he knew Sakurai to be in the past. Red met the purple of his own, that pink's smile now reached his eye. The white-haired boy's face betrayed no emotion side from shallow pleasantries, but hiding beneath that was a rather inquisitive lad who was aching to catch up with an old contact — a friend even.

"A-ah… How… do you know me by?" Sakurai turned to Uraraka, now clutching her phone to her chest in excitement. He looked shy and his tone dripping with caution.

"Your exercise tips!" Uraraka beamed, "It's so simple but you taught me so much about fighting nausea and how to deal with inertia! I even started in gymnastics coz you showed it really help!"

The group blanched. Her response wasn't exactly what you'd expect from a fan of a pretty boy. It was pretty similar to Midoriya's spiel of blatant Hero fanboy word vomit, but admiration filled word vomit. Not to mention it was more exercise-based, that wasn't exactly what you'd expect from a cushy looking pretty boy to be known for — but that's Yuuei for you. In fact, going back to Sakurai he looked like he was praised to high heaven.

"You serious! Oh gosh!" A blush was forming on his cheeks from Uraraka's reply, it was obvious he wasn't expecting that either. "I never really met people who read up on my workout tips, like at all. This is so embarrassing."

"No! Don't be embarrassed! Your routines and tips you write about in your blog are so good and it has everyone in mind!" Uraraka argued with gusto. "You should be proud! You're like a trainer!"

"Ahhhh… you're too kind uhhh" the pink-haired man motioned asking for her name.

"Uraraka Ochako! It's a real pleasure meeting you!" He shook her hand and glanced over to the group, wordlessly asking for their names.

"Iida Tenya, I heard good things about the Sakurai Family. I have no doubt we will get along well in this school."

"M-midoriya Izuku. Please take care of me!"

"I'm Sumitomo Tsubaki! Say… aren't you one of the recommendation students too?" Tsubaki looked up to him with a friendly smile.

"Oh yeah…" The taller boy snapped his fingers in recollection. "I saw you at the debriefing. I'm glad you got in too. Anyways, we should head over and buy something to eat before we chat through lunch."

The pink-haired boy suggested and let the others go before him. Tatsuya walked up to him as he followed the group now in their own quiet conversations in pairs. Red and purple met, as Tatsuya felt familiarity and warmth wash over him.

"It's good to see you again, Tsu."

A bright and boyish smile graced the tan face of the pink head.

"Right back at ya." Sakurai's grin melted down to a smile. "Let me guess; you getting ramen again, huh?"

"Of course."

—

Cold.

Bitter.

Yet refreshing.

Tatsuya sipped on a cold brew coffee as he made himself comfortable in his desk. Lunch already ended but the boy still managed to take a swig of the elixir of life, the only type of fuel that could keep you awake after a night of no sleep. The white-haired boy didn't really like the taste of coffee but if push came to shove, he'd drink it for the caffeine. Sighing he screw the cap back on the glass bottle, saving the other half for later. The class was about to start and he'd rather not be reprimanded by Iida for the second time today.

"It's a shame Sakurai-San didn't eat with us…" Sumitomo Tsubaki sighed as she supported her head on her hands. "He seems like a really nice person and you two looked like you wanted to catch up. But sadly he's in 1-B."

"Well he wanted to sit with his classmates, for now, we can always invite him next time." Tatsuya leaned back in his chair, "Besides he can always visit or call me if he wants. Not like he doesn't have a key to my place."

"He lives with you?" The white-haired girl sat up suddenly and Midoriya turned to him as he overheard the conversation.

"Well… not really. I've been close friends with him for a long time." He rapped the table with his gold decorated fingers. "I can visit his home anytime I want as well."

"Oh that makes sense!" Midoriya added to the conversation. "Kaneshiro-san aren't you from—"

"I am here!" A loud and proud baritone voice announced gaining the attention of the whole class. "Going through the door like a normal person!"

Purple eyes widen, along with everyone in the class as they all knew whose voice was. All Might. The number 1 hero in Japan and the country's symbol of peace. One of the greatest heroes on an international level.

"Woah he's wearing his silver age costume!"

"That so retro and cool!"

Tatsuya watched the legendary hero walked up the teacher's podium, still enthralled at the prospect of being a student of him. It felt like a dream. Looking to his right he can see Tsuyu — another Tsu — straighten up. Her face may not be emotive but he can easily tell through body language.

"I'm sure we won't be needing introductions since you already know my name! However, I will be teaching Foundational Heroics in this school!" All Might dramatically flash a card to the class with heroic panache. "Now let's get started on Battle Training!" Garnering different excited reaction from the class. Easing off the heroic act for a tad he fished out a remote and press a sequence of buttons whilst the tall man continued on his speech.

"And not only that! With training, you can have a taste of what it's like to be a pro!" As if on cue, the front of the wall next to the teacher's podium gave way to racks of numbered briefcases. All with a futuristic hiss as the hydraulics worked its magic. "We've prepared your hero gear as per your request. Our design companies may have added more as they looked over your quirks!"

Everyone seemed to be fired up, especially after the reveal that they would be using their costumes. A dream come true for most of them.

That included Tatsuya.

"Now get changed and we'll meet at battlegrounds Beta! The gear you bring into the field is incredibly important."

—

"And remember from this day on… You're all officially Heroes!"

The class walked out the tunnel following All Might's words. Each and every one of them decked out in their own unique style suiting their quirks. Tsubaki was practically bouncing as she looked around at her classmates, they all looked like actual pros and it was amazing. She scanned the gathering class, noticing a particular green boy lagging behind. The girl's mind instantly thought of a bunny as he jogged up to the group.

She thought for a moment if she should walk up to him, but it was class time and it'll be too rude to have a chat whilst her teacher's doing their job. She adjusted her fingerless gloves and tested the fit. Tsubaki sported a simple bodysuit as it was layered with white stylized tactical armour around her vitals and limbs, a chest piece, shoulder pads, gauntlets, leg armour; the works. Her hips lay a yellow utility belt that had pouches of things she may need, there it was attached to cloth; the front coming down to her mid-thigh while the back ended at her knees at their longest. Just like the modest cloth her entire get up merely consists of the two colours, white and a small dash of yellow. Upon her face was a visor of sorts that had a mirror finish, it had a yellow tint matching the colour scheme.

"You're looking good." She turned to a familiar voice of her seatmate came up next to her. Looking up she was greeted with a sharply dressed fellow.

Kaneshiro Tatsuya donned a simple but expensive-looking suit it seemed black, however as he moved it reflected a hint of royal purple. There was a skintight bodysuit in place of a regular shirt, it had a gold marking going down the collar that looked like it had a tie. That wasn't the only gold he had, the boy still had his armour-like rings on his fingers this time connected with gold arm guards on both arms, but his left arm continued up until his arm before ending to a pauldron. The earrings had an upgrade of their own as well. Unlike the small cuffs he donned when out of costume, these followed his ear shape and tapered off giving the boy elf ears. His pants were a slim fit, and his shoes matched the whole suit aesthetic. There seemed like normal dress shoes, oxfords even, but each time he took a step there was a metallic clink to them.

In short, he looked incredibly formal and opulent as if he were attending a gala rather than being suited up for hero work. Yet, he wore it with the same confidence he seemed to have for the short time Sumitomo knew him. The girl's eyes looked up to his face from behind her visor, he held a nonchalant smile. Returning an easy smile of her own she felt herself get bouncy in excitement.

"You're not too bad yourself." Sumitomo leaned forward her hands clasped behind her. "Is that actual gold?"

Her friend just smiled, this time wider and teasing. The girl deadpanned, surely it was a joke. She wasn't that familiar with expensive things, but she does know that gold is wholly expensive.

"You're not serious right?" The girl whispered her mouth hanging for a bit as she tried to wrap her head around how much that costume must have cost.

Kaneshiro merely smiled back. He was tormenting her.

"I'm liking everyone's styles! You're all looking so heroic! Now!" All Might boomed, his lips never moving an inch below his iconic smile. "Let's see what you're made of, ya bunch of rookies!"

"Teacher! Will the combat exercise be just like the entrance exam, seeing as we are using the same battlegrounds as that assessment." Sumitomo looked to an armoured man with Iida's voice speak. He seemed more robotic with his white armour causing the girl to smile. She can easily see everyone's personality shine through their costume designs.

"You'll see — in fact, take two steps and you're there! Today will be an indoor battle trial!" She noticed Midoria perked up as the hero spoke, "While the most televised villain incidents are usually out in the open, but statistics show that there is a onesided preference to indoor acts of villainy. Imprisonment.. House arrest… the black market… in this hero saturated society, any villain with intelligence and basic common sense would stick to working in the shadows. So, for this test, you'll be split up into 'Heroes' and 'Villains'. Most will be paired up but there'll be two groups of three and they'll be against each other— for a fair assessment of course.

"What about basic training?" The resident frog inquired.

"Why, this is foundational training!" All Might replied confidently. "We won't always rely on robots for training, now."

All of a sudden flurry of questions were thrown at the poor teacher.

"How do we determine the win conditions?"

"So we can blow them up, right?"

"Is there's gonna be an expulsion punishment like in the quirk assessment test?"

"If we're grouping into different numbers of groups, how will be the best way to do so?"

"Isn't this cape just as beautiful on Moi?~"

Though… one of those questions is not like the others…

"I can't hear you when you speak all at once!" All Might seemed to be cornered as he tried to take a peak off a script of sorts — clearly failing on hiding it. "For this training, we'll have the 'Villains' guard a nuclear weapon that they plan to detonate. While our 'Heroes' need to stop them from doing so. If the 'Heroes' capture their opponents or reach the weapon; they win. On the other hand, should the 'Villains' capture them or hold the 'Heroes' back till time runs out, they win."

"Also teams will be formed by drawing lots!" All Might pulled out a box, probably with all the group letters.

"Is that really how we make the groups?" Iida remarked.

"Well… Iida pros often have to team up on the field and they really can't choose who they can work with… maybe that's what this exercise is about." Midoriya answered his friend, while Sumitomo nodded in agreement.

"I see! Always having the future in mind!." Iida turned to the teacher, "I apologise for a hasty judgement!"

"Anyway! Let's begin!" The tall teacher boomed, trying to wrangle the attention of excitable teenagers.

Team A: Midoriya Izuku and Uraraka Ochaco

Team B: Todoroki Shoto, Shoji Mezo, and Kaneshiro Tatsuya

Team C: Yaoyorozu Momo and Mineta Minoru

Team D: Bakugo Katsuki and Iida Tenya

Team E: Aoyama Yuga and Ashido Mina

Team F: Sato Rikido and Koda Koji

Team G: Kaminari Denki and Jiro Kyoka

Team H: Tokoyami Fumikage and Asui Tsuyu

Team I: Sumitomo Tsubaki, Ojiro Mashirao, and Hagakure Toru

Team J: Kirishima Eijiro and Sero Hanta

Sumitomo looked around for her teammates as she gave Tatsuya a determined smile before he left to look for his group. She was fired up to have him as her opponent. Spotting a waving glove in the air she jogged up to it — more specifically her — and a boy with a muscular tail.

"You guys are team I, right?" she asked looking up to where the owner of the gloves head would be.

The gloves replied with a cute hum in agreement before it moved downwards to what she assumed was her knees and gave a bow, "I'm Toru Hagakure!"

The white-haired girl gave her an easy smile as she returned the bow, "My name's Sumitomo Tsubaki! Please take care of me!"

"Ahhh~ That's such a cute name! Oh! And this is Ojiro Mashirao! Looks like we'll be going up against the other team of three huh?"

"Yeah, they look like they'll put up a hard fight." The tailed boy remarked as he studied the other team. From where they were standing, Team B seemed to hardly be conversing, just awkwardly standing near each other. And so... Fate has brought three introverts together.

"Now! For the first battle!" All Might shoved both his hands in two boxes and fished out two balls, "Team A will be heroes! And Team D will be the villains! In this exercise, the villain team will head in the building first to set up and hide their weapon. When five minutes have passed, the hero team will be able to enter the building. Everyone else follows me to the monitor room to watch and learn. Though this exercise encourages the villain team to get into the mindset of a real villain, do remember this is training. We don't want any unnecessary injuries to happen! If things get too out of hand we will stop the exercise immediately."

—

"Who do you think would win this?" An eager voice brought Sumitomo back from her little daydream. It was the invisible girl, her gloves clenched and brought to her chest while it looked as though her head was turned up to the monitors.

"I don't really know…" The short girl hummed, in thought. "I haven't really seen how they would be like when they fight… It's gonna be pretty interesting though! We could learn a few things too."

The invisible girl gave Sumitomo a sound of approvement and what she could assume a nod with how the gloves moved. Her eyes shifted around the class, having a wide range of interest on this round. She wasn't excited, but nor was she disinterested — from the looks of some of her classmates she spotted.

Green eyes studied several monitors that displayed the many rooms, hallways, and stairwells of the building above them. In one monitor held an image of the weapon accompanied by the villains Iida and— Bakugo wasn't with him. Sumitomo then searched the many screens to spot the hero team sneak in through a window. Which was pretty smart, since going through the main entrance is far too predictable. A smile grew on her face as the girl spotted the loud boy showed himself in another screen, and he was close by to the hero team. It was like clockwork. The ambush was somewhat successful, but Midoriya was surprisingly quick to react.

The girl heard a few comments about the first clash. Some saying that it was underhanded, while others arguing the legitimacy of such a strategy in actual combat. Sumitomo did have to side with All Might who supported Bakugo's sneak attack, though what caught her attention was Midoriya's reflexes. Though half his mask was now blown off, he somehow managed to dodge and move his teammate out of the way.

As she watched the silent video feed she was convinced they basically paused the fighting to throw words at each other instead. Taking this time to shimmy her way to her seatmate — and future "enemy" — Kaneshiro Tatsuya. The young man noticed movement on his side and gave her a sideways glance, curious as to why she approached him.

"They look like they have a history," Sumitomo spoke somehow holding a serious tone unlike he has heard from before. "And it doesn't seem like it was a good thing — for Deku's side at least."

"Anyone with a working pair of eyes can see that." The golden boy replied not really turning away from the monitors, as it showed the fight continues with Bakugo unleashing devastating blast after devastating blast that could be heard from the viewing room. Her brows furrowed as with each blast the boy in green seemed to struggle against the onslaught his opponent put forth. This wasn't a training exercise.

It was a massacre.

The girl looked over to the teacher, picking up the body language. All Might was tense — just like everyone else — but it doesn't look like he was afraid or worried. He looked like he was intently watching this whole thing go down. All of this was too heavy for Sumitomo. This was too much. Turning away she cringed as low rumbling from Bakugo's explosions found their way into the viewing bunker. Her actions didn't go unnoticed by her golden friend.

Tatsuya glanced over to her form, brows furrowing. He didn't really assume that anyone would be down to watch such a fight go down. Though the boy did believe that his seatmate should at least be desensitized to exercises like this at her age by now. Reaching over to her shoulder intending to reassure her that it's not that grave of a situation, Tatsuya suddenly heard a massive explosion followed by the room being rocked. He saw dust from the ceiling fall as the class expressed their worry on the severity of that attack.

That blast was too much.

A wave of worry washed over the boy as he frantically searched the monitors for any sign of a particular green-haired boy. Purple scanned every inch of each screen to see any trace of green amongst the dust. Feeling a squeeze on his arm he turned to see his companion looking like she's on the brink of tears as she did the same frantic search.

"There!" Tatsuya pointed at a screen showing the boy that took the brunt of the explosion staggering to his feet. Sumitomo gasped as they both took in the damage caused by the explosion. It was carnage. The explosion caused such a massive hole in the building, it was a miracle the whole thing didn't just fall apart then and there.

"Bakugo! If you fire one of those blasts again I will stop this exercise immediately and your team will automatically lose." All Might's voice reverberated through the room, clearly reprimanding the boy's actions. "Hero or Villain, an attack that destructive blow indoors will cause more harm not just to your opponent, but to you and your stronghold! That was a foolish move that will only leave you buried under rubble."

A pregnant silence followed as all eyes watched Bakugo go back to more controlled attacks. He was brutal. Attack after another attack, not once relenting or letting Midoriya any breathing room.

Lunging to the green-haired boy Bakugo aimed a blast to his face, however, he changed his direction at the last minute. Flipping over the torn-up boy he was "rewarded' with a massive opening. There he took his chance to land an explosion on his opponent's back.

As much as Tatsuya resented this situation, he had to admit it was a rather well-executed move. Hearing the others discuss the same thing he was thinking, the boy was sure he was not the only one with that opinion. Sighing the white-haired boy pat the Sumitomo's hands still cutting off circulation to his other arm. What was there to do? All they could do was watch.

Then there was a pause.

Midoriya was retreating?

It was smart, given the opponent. Tatsuya mused as he watched this painfully obvious case of bully and victim play out. To think these would escalate to something as big as this. However, that would be a given, with the level of powers involved. It was inevitable.

Wait.

That boy turned around.

Tatsuya felt Sumitomo let go as he walked forward to the monitors for a better look. He couldn't believe that this weak little lamb would still try to face this. This was a prime and pristine example of sheer insanity. Midoriya was headed to an early grave.

Spinning to the teacher Tatsuya opened his mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Sir! Please! Stop the exercise! This is too much!" Jerking his head to his right he saw the small white-haired girl plead to the teacher. "Someone's already really hurt! Sir!"

The sentiment was shared with a redhead, he too was urging All Might to stop this. Relenting All Might spoke into the microphone, just as the boy went in for one more clash. This time Midoriya was poised to retaliate with a full-on attack.

This is bad.

Everything went as if it was in slow motion. Frame by frame, the boys flung themselves to each other. Both of them going for the final strike. Both aiming for what each believed was the best target. Tatsuya felt as if they were moving an inch an hour as he watched in bated breath. As they clashed, the world seemed to just speed up. The final collision took out the closest camera to the fight, however, Tatsuya could see that the impact could of Midoriya's attack blow clean through the building's entirety.

Unbeknownst to Tatsuya who was wholly glued to the action involving the two boys, their partners were in a fight of their own.

A gentle slap to his arm brought his attention to his little white-haired companion. She said nothing only enthusiastically pointed at a different monitor. Following the direction of her arm, the boy saw the image of a girl clad in pink, Uraraka. The blow seemed to affect their area as well. It seemed like a lost cause, however, this girl — who he honestly don't expect to pull something like this — swung a part of the pillar as a bat hitting a sizable amount of debris to Iida. Using this as a rather effective distraction, she floated herself to capture the mock bomb.

Creative. Risky as all hell, but Tatsuya did commend that move's creativity.

Still, it got the job done.

"The— the hero team… WINS!"

—

Well… The atmosphere was incredibly awkward. Tatsuya glanced to the empty spot where Midoriya would have been standing, however, being taken off in a stretcher with a broken arm would stop that from happening. The reason why naming Iida as the match's MVP didn't seem to catch on with most of his classmates. Sighing, he honestly thought it was just as obvious as a green apple in a basket of oranges.

Critiques aside, Tatsuya argued that since this was foundational training it would show the discrepancy on reasoning amongst the students. Not everyone could know how to think like a professional hero at the age of 15. A corner of his mouth pulled down as he heard All Might throw out a question.

"Yes, All Might Sir." A refined pale hand raised proudly amongst the crowd. "Iida was the only one who managed to adapt effectively to the situation. Watching the fight, Bakugo was rather clouded with his own personal grudge and feelings that it impacted the effectiveness of his team. Furthermore, that attack — as you have warned before — was far too foolish to unleash in an indoor setting. To do so showed that he had no foresight besides trying to settle this personal grudge of his."

Tatsuya looked to the girl perturbed at her forwardness in criticising the embodiment of an explosion.

"That goes the same with Midoriya."

She's really going for it.

"Additionally, Uraraka seemed to be as reckless as the other two. Her final attack was too risky to execute. Should the model be an actual bomb, the debris she hurled in Iida's direction would set it off causing untold destruction."

Not even the bubbly girl was spared.

"It was Iida who formulate a sound strategy against the opposing team, as he knew that the exercise centred around the bomb. Though he was too slow to counteract Uraraka's final attack I do not think that this hero team's "victory" was too merciful of a conclusion as it was barely adhering to the exercise's parameters."

Silence.

Tatsuya stared at the girl brows raised. It wasn't every day he met a girl this..._precocious? _Cringing at the sheer awkwardness thick was as oatmeal and the air was getting harder to breathe. This felt horrible to even watch.

"W-well… Iida can loosen up a bit in the future." All Might awkwardly put up a shaky thumbs-up, "But a rather well structured and correct answer. Well done!"

Recovering quickly, All Might clapped his hand as he straightened back to his full height.

"Alright! Team B and Team I! Now let's see who are the heroes and the villains." Pulling out a rather large coin the flicked it into the air. Letting it fall into his palm the side of the coin showed the letters B in blue and I in red. "That settles it, Team B will be our heroes and Team I will be our villains! Everyone let's get ready for the next match."

Another sigh escaping his lips.

The white-haired boy stretched as he made his way out of to the monitor room. Looks like it was his turn to be scrutinised by the class. Not that he was new to that. Being watched was something he has gotten used to from a very young age. A slap on his back brought him out of his thoughts, turning he saw a white-clad girl jogging past whilst waving to him.

He raised an awkward hand to wave back to his new friend. Taking a spot in front of the new building set for the next match. A sound brought his attention to his side. It was his teammates. Just as before, neither of them looked like they were interested in any form of conversation. Standing there just waiting for the signal to start, Tatsuya steeled himself to at least try to talk.

"So… what's the plan?" Folding his arms the boy put up a nonchalant visage as internally he slapped himself at the conversation starter. "Wanna divide and conquer, or come at them as a team? Your pick."

"You two could stay out of the building. I can handle them." Turning to the tallest member, the ice-covered boy continued clearly bored. "Can you do some reconnaissance?"

The beep signalled the start of the match. Tatsuya tilted his head as he watched Shouji made arms each with an ear on the end. They moved smoothly around surveying his own surroundings for a few moments. All the while an arm with a mouth grew moving towards the other two.

It looked… weird to say the least.

"Two of them are barefoot on the northside, fourth floor…" He paused an ear moving swiftly around, "The other one is moving about and they aren't staying in the same place for too long… wait… one at the fourth floor is starting to move to the entrance… The girls are planning for an ambush."

"Very well…" Ice boy walked forward, his right hand touching the walls all before a surge of ice encompassed the entire building. Once fully frozen, Todoroki walked into the building. The attack was painfully effective and clearly screamed gifted child all over him. It was so instant. There was clearly no chance for the other team to avoid such an attack.

Shifting his weight between gold-covered feet, he waited. With a quirk that powerful, Tatsuya figured going in would just be a waste of energy on his part. Not that he's complaining about not really participating. The caffeine was wearing off and the lull of sleep crept in. If he could just sneak to a corner and take a little nap, that would be good.

"Wait…" Tatsuya turned to Shouji who's arm ears were moving about frantically as if tracking down something. "The fast one's still moving about… and they're headed straight for the

"Think Todoroki could handle it?" The golden boy quipped arms still folded as he tapped a foot impatiently.

—

Todoroki wasn't in any of a rush he languidly walked to the room his companion pointed out. Turning into the room he was greeted with his classmate with the tail stuck in a fighting stance.

"By all means, you can take a step to try and stop me." Easily walking past him, he spared the boy a glance, "But keep in mind you'd have to rip the skin off your feet to do so."

Reaching a hand to capture the core he was ready to be over and done with this. This exercise did show the painfully wide gap between him and some of the students. It was predictable. Not that it was their fault, he just has a head start so to speak and this was far too easy—

"Gotcha!"

It all went by so fast.

Fortune must have been smiling down on Sumitomo, as she skidded to a stop just in front of the ice boy. Green eyes flew towards the arm she attacked. Maybe… fortune was not exactly smiling down on her. Clicking her tongue at the sight of the capture tape just hanging off the boy's arm.

A failed attempt.

Standing to her full height of 144 centimetres she stared him down momentarily. Sumitomo's bubbly attitude was gone. She was unreadable, so was her opponent in front of her. They were both sussing each other up, waiting for the other to make their move.

Then it broke out.

Todoroki hurled sizable chunks of ice towards the shorter girl. He had to hand it to her she was good enough to keep up. Chunk after chunk, the girl managed to dodge it without as much putting a foot on them. Not only that she was incredibly manoeuvrable, bouncing from every surface withing the room, but Sumitomo was also exhibiting some affinity for acrobatics. Flipping and twisting her body in the air doing handstands all the while dodging his attacks. It was rather challenging to pin her down. Yet he still had more to give. Slamming his right foot down, the boy swung his hand upwards creating a barrier of ice. He was sure the girl was caught in the ice. Not wanting to fall for another ambush, Todoroki kept both and eye and an ear out for anything.

Silence.

It was too quiet.

And he was right.

_Crack_

Eyes snapped to the ice barrier. Apparently, this girl has more tricks up her sleeves. Todoroki crouched just in time as the ice seemingly exploded and shattered into an uncountable amount of ice and flakes. Readying another wall of ice he stretched out his hand poised to form it. There was no way the same thing would happen twice watching his right arm he made one crucial mistake.

His left was open.

Todoroki felt a tug on his ice-covered side. It seems that the girl figured it out. Looking to his left, there was no mistaking the telltale white tape around his arm. Before he knew it Sumitomo had it wrapped around his waist.

_Wasn't the arm enough?_

With a relieved sigh Sumitomo let all the tension in her muscles release. A little tremor ran down her spine. The temperature seemed to have an effect on her. The cold was never something she was good against. Sumitomo blamed her lower body temperature and how her hands and feet get cold too fast and too easily. The powerhouse has been captured, all she has to do is jump the other two. Taking a moment to centre herself she shook any remaining tension out of her.

"Alright… One down, two to g—"

"Hero team wins!"

"WHAT!?" Spinning to the speaker Sumitomo couldn't believe her ears. There was only one entrance to the room. How would that possibly work? Running to the core the girl couldn't believe her eyes; it was Tatsuya leaning casually on the fake bomb. The gold boy gave her a cheeky salute as she blanched. "Mannnn! I thought I could swing it to our favour." Mirthful laughter met the girl's ears. Looking back to the boy that snatched her chance of victory from her, she pouted. To think she managed to go toe to toe with ice prince, only to be thwarted by Tatsuya basically sneaking in to capture the core.

"Nice try though." Tatsuya walked up and ruffled her white locks. That didn't quell the girl's dissatisfaction. They felt the room started to heat up. Looking over to the only person she managed to capture placing his left hand on the wall. Steam was emanating from the point of contact and the ice gradually melted around them. The white-haired boy sauntered over to his teammate now finished with thawing the building. Offering him a polite smile, the boy tried not to focus on that glowing red eye. "Hopefully me sneaking in and capturing the core, didn't take away your glory. Shouji mentioned that Sumitomo was making a beeline for you and I figured since she's distracted…" He was rambling again.

"..." The boy was met with an impassive stare as silver met with purple. Tatsuya couldn't help but feel extremely awkward. Boy was he a great conversationalist. "...Thanks…"

At least that's a word out of him.

"No problem at all. You did most of the work for us either way." Awkwardness seemed to ease out of him as his smile relaxed. Seeing the boy still standing there now hands in his pockets, Tatsuya took this as a go-ahead to continue, "Your pretty great with your ice, but man… freezing the entire building like that? Pretty damn impressive."

"How did you come here?" Todoroki cut to the looming question that seemed to linger in the air.

"Through the floor." The white-haired boy pointed a golden thumb towards the disturbed spot on the floor. Smiling he brushed a few strands of his pearlescent locks behind his ear with the very same hand. In one smooth motion, he brought his hand up in between them. Following the motion, some of the gold from his ear cuff disassembled and the shimmering fragments gathered — floating right above his palm. The fragments danced and swirled as it formed several shapes finally settling into a small hollow star. "It's pretty obvious what I did. It's pretty handy when I want to sneak into buildings."

That earned him a raised eyebrow.

"Well…" Flicking his hand back, sending the gold back to its place. Turning to the others in the room Placing his hands to his hips smiling, "We should get going."

—

Golden covered fingers tapped against the table impatiently. Tatsuya was a boy capable in long periods of waiting, however, this wasn't one of those times. Irritation welled in him slowly accumulating as each minute passed. Purple eyes scanned the long empty table in which he sat, the walls decorated with paintings that could be worth thousands. At the very end of the table was a rather impressive chair, looming and intimidating to most. It wasn't for the boy in question. Glancing to a servant stationed next to him, he sighed.

"Is he ever going to come on time?" Massaging the bridge of his nose he tried to fight off the growing headache developing, "It's always like this… If he doesn't come in the next 15 minutes I'm going back. This is a waste of time."

"Y-young sir! Please he will be here very soon I am sure of it." The servant looked panicked for a moment before she forced herself to look encouraging. He studied her for a moment, with an unimpressed expression.

"You're new. How long have you been here?" Might as well entertain himself with some idle chatter.

"U-Uh… 3 months young sir." She brought her arms to her back as she stood in attention.

"Drop the 'young sir' just call me Tatsuya, everyone here calls me that." Nonchalantly waving it off he rests his cheek on his palm. "Also relax, I'm not a tyrant. Honestly, why does he think I'd need someone waiting on hand and foot for me. It's ridiculous. Anyways, what's your name?"

"A-ah it's okay Sir Tatsuya. I don't mind the workload." The lady laughed awkwardly, "My name? Oh! It's Kanna, Sir."

Even when he said to not use such formal honorifics, the lady — now identified as Kanna — insisted on using "Sir". Sighing Tatsuya opened his mouth to reply only to be cut off by the sound of doors opening. Clicking his tongue, he glanced back to the end of the table there a sharply dressed man took his seat. Black hair neatly slicked back, as the man looked up to him purple met purple. The same swirling mixture of magenta and electric blue clashed one more hostile than the other.

"I'm sorry for making you wait, Tatsuya. Hopefully, the wait wasn't too long, right?" The older man gave him a shy smile, "Oh I see you've met Kanna. She joined us just four months—"

"Yeah, I get it. You don't need to explain everything you do." Tatsuya's voice was dripping in hostility, matching his thinly veiled disdain targeted to the man across. His eyes cold and conveying his absolute disinterest on this conversation. Begrudgingly he made himself greet the man.

"Welcome home, Father."

* * *

Heather:

A rather hardy flower that grows in places that most other flowers couldn't. It has several meanings depending on the culture. The most commonly thought to symbolise good luck and independence. However, depending on the colour, purple heathers are said to represent admiration and respect. Should you give that to someone, it could be interpreted that you respect and/or admire that person.


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